Page 49 of Caleb's Cause
“No, just an empty building.”
“It won’t be for long,” Reid said. He looked at Ryan with a nod. “Sara called Julie yesterday. She’ll try to be here for the ceremony, but definitely in time for the reception.”
“Great. I know Julie will be happy.” Ryan turned to Caleb with a grin. “You know who Julie is, correct?”
“Isn’t she Erin’s assistant? I forget who she’s dating.”
“Yes, and she’d dating Scott, Duane’s brother.” He held up his hand with a shake of his head. “Long story. Anyway, Sara is Julie’s sister. She’s a licensed therapist, and had to be in Denver for the summer for some extended classes. Her specialty is working with PTSD patients. That’s what the extra help was for.”
“Oh, wow. When will she be back here permanently?”
“Soon, we don’t have an exact date yet. We might be able to find out when she comes today.”
“Good, I won’t step on Katherine’s toes, but if this Sara doesn’t stay, I’ll talk to Katherine about it and have her talk to Sara when she returns.”
“That sounds like a good idea.” They all looked at their watches when an alarm sounded and Reid looked at his fancy watch, turned it off, then looked at Ryan.
“You ready?”
“Yes, I can’t wait to make Prudora my wife.”
The three men left the cabin, and because Katherine had taken the golf cart over to Pru and Ryan’s cabin earlier, and someone had dropped Ryan off at their cabin, the only vehicles outside were Reid’s and Caleb’s trucks. They opted to take Reid’s, stating Caleb could ride back with Katherine. When they arrived at the area that had been set up for the wedding, Calebwas amazed at all the work that had been done that morning. As of last night, it was just a big open field, the area everyone referred to as the future garden. Now there were several chairs, an arch with flowers woven through it, and a white runner had been laid out for Pru to walk down. Instead of standing around, Caleb was informed that he had to go to the groom’s side and sit in the front row. He was the only family on Ryan’s side there. When he took his place, he looked over and smiled at Katherine.
“I hope you don’t mind that I’m sitting with you?”
“Not at all. Thank you.” He leaned over and kissed the side of her head, then looked up when there was movement ahead of him. He nodded to his uncle as he stood tall next to the man Caleb assumed was the preacher. He looked handsome, confident, and at first glance, you could fail to see his eye patch. Caleb made a mental note to make some calls and to talk with Ryan in the coming days. When music started to play, everyone in the chairs turned to look and they smiled when Naomi walked down the aisle toward the front. With her in position, the music changed, everyone stood, and Caleb sucked in his breath when he looked back and saw Pru standing there on Ducky’s arm.
“Damn,” he whispered, and when Ryan cleared his throat, he turned and grinned at the other man. “Your wife is beautiful.”
“I know, but thanks.” Ryan concentrated on Pru as she approached, and it was over before it even begun. Not really, but Caleb had been so enthralled with the couple getting married that he didn’t pay attention to the vows being said. He remembered Pru taking Ryan’s hand, then it was over, and the couple were walking down the aisle. At the end, there was an area where the four people stood and everyone went out and congratulated them.
Instead of standing around before going over to Erin’s Way for the reception, Caleb jumped in and helped the hands close up the chairs and load them in the back of several pick-uptrucks. As they left, the people from Broken waited for Pru and Ryan’s photos to be taken and Caleb stood off to the side with Katherine’s hand in his.
“You should get a picture with your uncle, send it to your father,” Katherine said with a nod, and Ryan must have thought the same thing because Ryan called out for him to join him. After ‘family’ pictures were taken, the younger couple didn’t realize that when those pictures were sent to Kevin, there were also several of Caleb and Katherine together, at the ceremony, reception, and even dancing later.
Several hours later, Caleb walked up to Katherine and stood before her. “How are you holding up?”
“Good, but getting a little tired.”
Caleb looked at his watch and nodded. “I know it’s early by some standards, but it’s going on eight and since the wedding was at eleven this morning, and we’ve been going strong all day, I’m ready to pack it in if you are.”
“I am.” She paused and looked around. “You don’t think it would be rude to leave?”
“Not at all.” Caleb took her hand, helped her to her feet, and they made the rounds, leaving the bridal party for last. Once they were outside, one of the men from Jake’s office came up to them and told Caleb the best way to get back to Broken Two where their cabin was. In minutes they were underway, and though it was still warm out for the end of September, he appreciated the fact that there was a windshield on the golf cart. It took roughly twenty minutes to reach their destination. As he parked the golf cart on the side of the cabin, he looked over at Katherine, and his smile turned into a frown. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, just tired,” she said sadly, and he rushed around to help her out, and let her lead the way into the cabin. Once inside, she kicked off her shoes, and headed toward her bedroom. He didn’t want to be offended, but from her expression anddemeanor, he knew something was on her mind. Instead of bothering her, he knew she would come to him if she needed anything. He went into his own room, changed into a pair of shorts and tee, and went back out to the kitchen with his laptop. He knew it was probably wrong, but he made a pot of coffee and as he waited for it to brew, he fired up his computer.
Caleb jerked when he heard a small scream, and looked at the clock, noting it was two in the morning. He quickly shut down the computer, and when the sound came again, he rushed to Katherine’s room, eased inside, and walked to the other side of the bed. Instead of waking her, he climbed on top of the bed, and wrapped his arms around her. In seconds she turned into his embrace, and for the first time since he started doing this, she burst into tears. Without saying a word, he gathered her closer and let her cry. It was almost an hour before she leaned back, looked up at him, and whispered, “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” He paused, drew in a deep breath, and let it out slowly. “Do you want to talk about it?”
“It’s stupid.”
“Nothing is stupid, especially if it makes you cry like that.” He didn’t force her to look at him, or to talk, he figured when everything was right in her head, then she would speak.
He was just starting to fall asleep when she spoke, “Why is Michael’s father doing this?”
“Doing what?” He knew he should have said something different, especially when she rose to look down at him.
